Among the many products of the oft-maligned automobile industries of the Soviet bloc of the Cold War era, the 4×4 trucks have garnered a considerable amount of respect worldwide. Whether military vehicles such as the jeep-like UAZ-469 and the 2-ton GAZ-66, or civilian vehicles such as the Lada Niva, their rugged simplicity and practical off-road engineering have struck a chord with 4×4 enthusiasts. Most were designed and made in the Soviet Union, but a little-known model range came from Romania: the ARO 24 Series. At least one of the ARO 24 Series has arrived on our shores in the form of an ARO 244 four door SUV, which I spotted on a residential street in Washington, DC, where no one would have expected to find it.

There is no need to doubt your knowledge of cars if you have never heard of ARO, because although its vehicles have been distributed widely around the world, its production numbers have been not been large. ARO, short for Auto Romania, began in 1957 as a state-owned company producing four wheel drive vehicles, initially for Romanian military use but later emphasizing exports to earn hard currency and for barter between Communist states. ARO’s export markets included Europe, Africa, South America, and the People’s Republic of China. ARO production and Cold War politics within the Communist bloc were highly intertwined, with its first vehicles produced shortly before the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Romania in 1958 and its exports to China being part of Romania’s pursuit of closer relations with China that began in the early 1960s, in order to extract favorable political and economic terms from each of the two leading Communist states.

The Soviet GAZ-69 military jeep was the basis for ARO’s 4x4s in the company’s first decade and a half. ARO’s first model was a direct copy called the IMS-57, of which a total of only 914 were produced from 1957 to 1959. An improved version that came in two door, four door, and pickup variants, the M59, followed from 1959 to 1963. A further developed version, the M461 (shown), lasted from 1964 to 1975 and was widely exported, with over 80,000 produced of which over 46,000 were exported.

The ARO 24 Series of civilian light trucks went into production in 1972 and lasted until 2006. It began with the 240 two door soft top and soon branched out into numerous body styles including the 241 four door soft top, 242 pickup, 243 two door wagon with elevated roof, 244 four door wagon, 246 four door wagon with elevated roof, 320 long wheelbase pickup, 324 long wheelbase double cab pickup, and 330 long wheelbase extended cab pickup. Ambulance, bus, and delivery van variants also existed, along with a military model called the Dragon and a luxury four door wagon called the Hunter. Both 4×4 and 4×2 drivetrains were available.

All versions were boxy and functional, archetypal small trucks with nothing extraneous. The 24x models were also quite compact, riding on a wheelbase of only 2350 mm (92.5 in). The lengthened 32x and 33x models were not especially large either, with wheelbases of 3300 mm (129.9 in) and 3340 mm (131.5 in), respectively, shorter than a full size American pickup truck with an 8 foot cargo bed.

The mechanical specifications of the ARO 24 Series were likewise straightforward and functional. Engines at first were gasoline and diesel fours by ARO displacing 2.5 to 3.0 liters, then later a wide variety of gasoline engines from Toyota, Ford, and Chrysler and diesel engines from Andoria in Poland, Toyota, Peugeot, and VM. With a 244 weighing over 3,600 pounds and all of the ARO engines and later outsourced diesels producing less than 100 horsepower, and even the Toyota and Ford gasoline engines topping out around 140 horsepower, performance on paved roads was gradual at best. The exception was the Hunter luxury model, which had a unique engine, a Cosworth-made Ford Cologne 4.0 liter V6 producing 207 horsepower and 238 lb-ft of torque. In both 4x4s and 4x2s, front suspension was independent by control arms with coil springs, rear suspension a solid axle with leaf springs.

The 24 Series 4x4s had the usual two speed transfer case with manual locking hubs, with a rear differential lock an option on all models. Along with the independent coil spring front suspension, the rear differential lock gave the ARO 24 Series fairly advanced specifications by the standards of the early 1970s, when American 4x4s such as the Chevrolet Blazer, Ford Bronco, Jeep Wagoneer, and International Harvester Scout used solid axles front and rear, all but the Bronco with hard-riding longitudinal leaf springs front and rear.

The underpinnings of the 24 Series proved to be quite capable off-road, and the design was highly regarded enough to be both an export success from Romania and produced under license in Portugal and Spain. The Portaro (PORTugal ARO) was produced from 1975 to 1995, and the Hisparo (HISPania ARO) from 1984 to 1992. The Portaro competed successfully in international rallying, with a first place finish in the 1984 Pharaon Rally in Egypt, part of the FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship. The team was an international collaboration, officially entered under ARO with French and Portuguese drivers driving Portaro 244s powered by Volvo gasoline engines, which along with Daihatsu diesels were the powerplants used by Portaro.

External changes to the 24 Series over the years were minimal. It debuted in 1972 with large rectangular headlights taken from the Dacia 1300, the Romanian Renault 12 copy, and a slatted grille, then switched to large round headlights in 1977. A 1985 restyling brought a new grille and smaller round headlights, either single or double depending on the model. There were further minor restylings during the post-Communist 1990s, in 1995 and 1998.

As a late model with quad headlights, the featured 244 has a plastic dashboard whose shapes, gauges and switchgear suggest a late 1980s or 1990s Japanese car or truck. Earlier years had a simpler painted metal dashboard.

The earliest evidence of this 244 being in the U.S. is these Pennsylvania DOT stickers with June 2006 expiration dates, which happen to coincide with the end of the line for ARO. The beginning of the end was the privatization and sale of ARO to an American investor in 2003. The sale of the company was supposed to be part of the introduction of a luxury version of the ARO 244 called the Cross Lander 244X, intended for sale in the United States starting in 2005. The Cross Lander 244X was supposed to capitalize on the trend for luxury-outfitted military 4x4s such as the Mercedes-Benz Gelaendewagen. The main investor in the Cross Lander project had been involved since 1998 in a venture to import AROs into the U.S. as military surplus vehicles, which had dissolved in questionable circumstances. The sale of ARO to Cross Lander was supposed to be followed by investment in the company, but Cross Lander allegedly instead sold off ARO’s production tooling and equipment, leading to allegations of fraud and a lawsuit by the government of Romania in 2006. Cross Lander dissolved, and ARO went into bankruptcy in June 2006.

The ARO 24 Series story is not quite over, though, because a Czech company named Auto Max Czech has put the design back into production in the Czech Republic. According to its English-language website, it produces a full range of 24 Series and lengthened 32 Series and 33 Series models, in the numerous body configurations offered earlier by ARO.

Since the Cross Lander 244X never materialized and U.S. certification for the new 24 Series made in the Czech Republic probably is unlikely, the featured 244 should always be a rare vehicle in the U.S. It is possibly a private import by an American diplomat formerly stationed in Romania or by an American technical assistance advisor from the USAID mission in Romania during the 1990s-2000s. It may instead be an import from South America, though, a clue being that it rides on four JTR tires marked “Made in Venezuela.”

Regardless of this ARO 244’s backstory, it is both a capable small and simple 4×4 and a fascinating relic of a different era in world history. Production of the 24 Series appears to have been approximately 10,000 per year prior to the fall of Communism in Romania and the other Warsaw Pact states in 1989, with three quarters of production exported from Romania, although trustworthy and exact production figures are difficult to find. Thousands have survived around the world, along with post-1989 examples such as this one. Few will be found in the U.S., so this one should intrigue people who see it for many years. The remnant of an “If you are interested in selling this truck, please contact me …” note under the wiper in the earlier photo of the windshield is no doubt the latest of many, with many more to come in the future.

Wow, that is a fine kept example! During the communist era, ARO was a car that brought you a higher social status in the eyes of the neighbors, and right afer 1989, many romanians would queue to buy one. Being a romanian, i remember quite a lot of these driving around in the 1990s, being used as family cars, for utility companies in the mountains and by the farmers bringing produce to the market (then mostly as a pickup).
I also remember the original, romanian built diesel was especially problematic, being a four cyl. derived from a 2 cyl. tractor engine. It had 3.2liters, direct injection, no less than 290kg and a typical farm tractor sound.

This is why I love CC. Some obscure vehicle buried in the back pages of an auto compendium brought to life. Fantastic find Robert and thanks for fleshing the story out.

This is not bearing diplomatic plates, but I wonder whether Washington (and NY due to the UN) would have a higher concentration of foreign makes shipped over to the States for use by consular representatives.

Umm…not quite so tough…
These are very badly put together oil guzzling, smoke belching shitboxes. Be prepared for countless breakdowns, zero comfort, leaky windows, non-functional AWD, a crumbling, hard plastic interior and lots and lots of rust. Did I mention rust yet? Add some more… Parts are becoming very scarce.These things are hopeless relics of the communist era.

I heard a good words about transfer case and axles (however for models from late 90′ and first years of XXI century). Also heard, that Aro 24 were more comfortable than LR 90 and 110. Numbers of used engines and gearboxes depend on country and time, so it depends from luck.
About AMC and continued manufacturing I think the page is out of date. Their actual site is madeinrussia.cz and no word about ARO (however fact, that they homologated UAZ Hunter for EU market is quite impressive)

Interesting view point, have you ever driven one? Have you ever owned one? I do, I’ve had it for many years. I use it for hauling rocks, sand, timber and all manner of things across rough country and up inclines it is hard to walk up. It spends most of its life overloaded! The AWD doesn’t break, it does not belch smoke, it consumes no oil, it has hauled thousands of tones of stuff over hellish terrain for 37 years and will do so for many years to come. Hardly a relic. The ride is good for the purpose though it does not have any cup holders. Mine doesn’t have a plastic interior so i can not comment on that. Parts are hard to find but it uses basic technology so parts are easy to adapt. As for hopeless, does it sound hopeless? How many modern vehicles will still be going after 37 years of very hard work? I’m not a communist by the way.

A guy from the same garage cooperative my Dad was parking in has one of these in the late 1990s. White, diesel engine, round headlights. It struck me as being extremely ugly back then, I even though it was some homemade car. The later versions got much better looking, however – in the original Land Rover Defender way. These AROs still have some following among the Russian off-roaders.

I’m just sort of guessing but suspect the only other place I’ve seen one of these is in James Bond movies. I would think the “military” drove several in The World Is Not Enough, and maybe other Bond movies.

I wonder what the owner’s “spares” cache looks like? Or does he have a direct link to one of the bigger dealers or the factory?

Outstanding find, and a fascinating history to a vehicle I knew nothing about.

Incidentally, the Washington, D.C. inspection sticker indicates it’s registered as a 1992 model, which seems to fit with your history of the ARO. I was able to find this leftover 2013 ad for a 1992 ARO 244 from Pennsylvania, which undoubtedly is the same car (or a remarkable coincidence!):

I think I recall the plan to import these to the US. I believe the company went as far as printing a brochure to be distributed at places like the North American International Auto Show but that could be a false memory given that I haven’t been to that show since 2002.

And god knows whatever literature I’m talking about was thrown out long ago.

Amazing find! I was confused when the Clue said this had no relation to Dacia… these were sold as Dacia in Chile! I only know because the family of a classmate had one. Otherwise, their presence here seems to have been extremely limited (as was the case with the “proper” Dacias, derived from the R12).

Fascinating. Growing up in Israel, those were the kind of vehicles we would have expected to see serving enemy armies, what with the political situation at the time. I did not even know they were produced that long.

I saw a pair of Olcits in a western Maine junkyard about ten years ago and was fascinated. I didn’t even know what they were until I got home and did some internet research. I still have the badges from one of them.

They tried to import them before 1998 as well. Not sure the whole story but I remember seeing an article on the imports back in 1992 or so in popular mechanics. They seem to have made it further along that time. When I started driving about 1997 the guy I was working for mentioned there were odd 4×4;s sitting on a dealer back lot in Granby CT. I drove up there and looked. They were sitting in the same spots for years and were starting to rust. The rumor at the dealer was they had signed up to be a dealer and made it far enough long that a few dealers got deliveries but got a stop sale order from the government and there they sat. Never heard what happened after that but they seem to pop up for sale from time to time usually with early 90’s model years which makes me think some sneaked thru somehow. The dealer got plowed under and I don’t remember the name unfortunately.

I believe that your memory has provided the key item of intelligence about the origins of this particular ARO 244. The years, with this car possibly sitting from 1992 to 1997, and the geographical proximity of CT to PA make it quite likely that this ARO 244 is one of those that you saw. I will have to add your recollections and the findings in Eric703’s comment above to the narrative.

All of this is more evidence that this site attracts a remarkably diverse and knowledgeable community of auto enthusiasts!

Digging my memory further the dealer had either 2 or 3 of them. I believe the dealer was in Granby CT and was a GM store looking now it looks like they closed in 2000 to make room for a grocery store.

This link on BAT (in the comments) seems to have more of the back story seems they were brought into Maine and converted to US regs and sold (sometimes)http://bringatrailer.com/2008/05/06/rare-1995-aro-hunter-244-crosslander-4×4/
This would figure in to what I saw, my guess is they may had trouble with the state of CT as the state tends to be a bit of a pain with Titles etc compared to other states, which may be why they sat.

I actually contacted this fellow last year and wanted to buy it. He was kind enough to send me a bunch of pics and videos. I’ll gladly forward them to you if you’d like to add them to your article. Funny thing is I was actually born in the town where they use to make these and have recently been to a makeshift ARO museum there.

The guy who bought the ARO factory in Romania is John Perez.
A cubanese guy I think from U.S
The factory got scammed by a fraudulous sale in 1995 when a Russian company acquired 3500 cars and never paid the factory back, neither the credit from BANCOREX (a Romanian bank wich was active back then).
Then in 1998 ARO launched (with a great efforts) a new line of ”redesigned” vehicles,wich got TOYOTA 2RZFE engines and silver spoilers.
In 2004 the factory was sold to this John Perez guy…..
Now there aren’t too many ARO’s, even in Romania, people are trying to sell them or either send them to the scrapyard.
Such a shame. :/

Sorry for my bad English,if you want more info you can ask me. 🙂 (also I attached an image with the latest ARO 244 model, from 2004)

Project car: ARO for sale most parts inside the car, No motor, Ford Expedition motor included if purchased, needs a complete build since it has never been put together. My Dad was given this car as payment when they were cleaning up and sending all AROs back from the port. Car located in Southeast Georgia. Unfortunately has not moved since acquired.

I visited the ARO showroom in the Bronx NYC after seeing an ad in the NY Post for the Hunter 244 for $9995 in 1992. I took a test drive at the ARO world headquarters on Fordham
Road and noticed that the test car had no turn signal stalk. They were cannibalizing the test car to sell the 10 or so that they had left. In 1997 I came across and ad for one for sale in Brooklyn and bargained the seller down to $1200. On the 80 mile drive home it became stuck in second gear and it sat in my yard until I sold it to a guy in Kansas for $1000 on EBay in 2000